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Fairfax County staff remove discretion for weapon-related suspensions in revised student conduct rule
Summary
Staff presented final revisions to the Student Rights and Responsibilities regulation that require suspension up to 10 days and a mandatory referral to a school-based risk prevention team for weapon possession/use; monitoring will focus on required interventions rather than discretionary factors.
Fairfax County School Board staff proposed final edits to the division's Student Rights and Responsibilities (SR&R) regulation that eliminate administrator discretion for certain weapon-related discipline and refocus monitoring on whether required interventions are used.
The change comes after the board's March work session, where members raised concerns that allowing administrators to consider mitigating factors could produce inconsistent outcomes and worsen discipline disproportionality. In response, staff said, “the final proposed change now mandates that for any violations involving possession or use of statutory weapons … the following 2 actions shall be required without exception. A suspension for up to 10 days and a referral to the school based risk prevention team,” and that the referral “determine appropriateness for further risk assessment in accordance with regulation 21-11,” (Dr. King, presentation).
Why it matters: Board members said they were worried discretionary suspension decisions had contributed to unequal application across student groups. Staff said removing discretion for suspensions creates a uniform consequence while keeping an intervention path open through the risk prevention team.
What staff proposed and why: The recommended SR&R redline removes administrator latitude to reduce suspension in weapon-related cases and requires both (1) a suspension up to 10 days and (2) a referral to the school-based risk prevention team to determine additional supports. The written package also narrows monitoring language: rather than auditing discretion factors considered before suspension, the chief equity office and the chief of schools will conduct a semester review of discipline cases involving weapons, assault, and assault and battery “to determine use of required intervention.” Staff said that because suspension discretion was removed, auditing the listed interventions is sufficient oversight.
Other discipline edits: The SR&R redline presented additional clarifications staff said would be incorporated unless the board provides new feedback. Those changes include: - Aligning the definition of assault to the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) language and requiring interventions for all assault violations, with a new narrative distinguishing assault (no physical injury) from assault and battery (with physical injury). - Creating a new SBAR code (BESO1B) for group assault and battery and separating hazing narrative into its own section. - Requiring discipline data entry into SIS for all discipline violations and parent notification within 24 hours of a disciplinary incident. - Requiring annual integrated discipline training for all school-based administrators (topics listed: SR&R updates, scenario-based processing, Title IX bullying/harassment, bias and discrimination, discipline data entry and turnkey training expectations). - Replacing the school counselor as a required school-team recipient of discipline concerns with the school-based administrative team (staff said parents may still speak with counselors, but the administrative team manages outcomes and appeals).
Legal and regulatory context: Staff said they are also tracking state-level changes. They noted that the governor recently signed Senate Bill 980 amending policies and procedures related to cyberbullying; SB 980 requires local boards to adopt policies aligned to forthcoming VDOE model guidance and to list support services and protections for victims/witnesses. Staff said they will revise SR&R when VDOE issues the model policies.
Board questions and staff clarifications: Members pressed staff on whether removing discretion might hide variation (e.g., non‑recording) and on how administrators will determine suspension length within the 1–10 day range. Staff said the duration remains an administrative determination for each case and that required interventions and discipline audit processes will provide enforcement and data oversight.
Ending note: Staff said the redlined SR&R regulation (Regulation 2601) will be posted as new business for the April regular school board meeting unless the board provides additional feedback at this or a subsequent session. The board's discussion flagged implementation, data entry, equity impacts and family communications as follow-ups to monitor.
